Pentagon Announces New $275 Million Weapons Shipment for Ukraine

Weapons and other military hardware delivered by the U.S. military at Boryspil Airport near Kyiv, in Boryspil, Ukraine, on Jan. 25, 2022. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s administration, on Nov. 20, announced a new arms transfer to Ukraine valued at $275 million.

The Pentagon said the arms package includes ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) the United States had previously provided to Ukraine.

It also includes 155mm and 105mm artillery shells, 60mm and 81mm mortar rounds, unmanned aerial systems, various anti-tank and anti-armor missiles and launcher systems, small arms and ammunition, demolitions equipment and munitions, and other spare parts, ancillary equipment, and training materials.

The Pentagon said this arms transfer, prepared under the presidential drawdown authority, “will provide Ukraine additional capabilities to meet its most urgent needs.”

The arms package is the 70th tranche of weapons the United States has provided to Kyiv since August 2021, just months before the 2022 start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Biden administration has been working to ramp up aid to Ukraine in his last weeks in office.

Speaking with reporters at a Nov. 7 press briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the administration is speeding up arms transfers to Ukraine under the presidential drawdown authority, while also working to prepare new loans for Ukraine backed by frozen Russian sovereign assets.

This latest arms package was announced as the Biden administration has relaxed a policy against the use of anti-personnel landmines in Ukraine.

Such weapons could slow Russian advances across Ukraine, but they also raise the risk of unintended civilian casualties.

The Pentagon has said it will provide Ukraine with “non-persistent” anti-personnel landmines that are designed to become inert after a preset period.

It has said Ukrainian forces have also given assurances they won’t use these weapons in civilian areas.

The new arms transfer also comes amid recent reports Biden has permitted Ukraine to use U.S.-donated weapons for long-range strikes inside Russian territory.

The administration has avoided directly confirming this policy shift, but the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Nov. 19 that Ukrainian forces had fired at least six U.S.-made MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) ballistic missiles at its Bryansk region.

The ATACMS is among the longest-ranged weapons the United States has provided Ukraine and can be fired from HIMARS launchers.

The Pentagon didn’t specify what types of HIMARS ammunition are included in this latest arms package for Ukraine and it didn’t respond to a request for comment by publication time.

The moves to free up more weapons for Ukraine could create challenges for President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office.

On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump repeatedly signaled he'd prefer to quickly negotiate an end to the conflict once he takes office in January.